One tale of why and how to teach and learn online internationally

Two university instructors on opposite sides of Earth felt the need to have their students use telecommunications to facilitate learning in their face-to-face classes. They joined forces to prepare U.S. pre-service teachers for teaching online and reaching diverse learners, and to provide English instruction to Taiwanese students. Those geographically separated university students corresponded via email and a Web board. U.S. pre-service teachers explored theory and practice of online instruction, corresponded as tutors to teach English language and American culture, and reflected upon their experiences. Taiwanese students practiced English and exchanged cultural information. Here, we provide a rationale for online instructional practice in teacher education and in foreign language learning and then summarize the online teaching and learning strategies applied by the partners in this telecommunications partnership.